2020 Summer Solstice

BEND low again, night of summer stars.

So near you are, sky of summer stars,

So near, a long arm man can pick off stars,

Pick off what he wants in the sky bowl,

So near you are, summer stars,

So near, strumming, strumming,

So lazy and hum-strumming.

-Carl Sandburg

We never imagined reaching out to our members to share our thoughts during a time quite this surreal and unprecedented. We’ve braced ourselves—as all farmers do—through drought years, and floods, and through wildfires that devastated our neighbors and friends. In France we’ve endured frost and hail, late rains and untimely heat waves, yet never had we imagined a shared global pandemic. Writing now, overlooking a vineyard that is blissfully unaware of this upheaval, we desire nothing more than to share a bit of the serenity found here at the ADAMVS Estate. 

Wildflowers are in full bloom, along with the myriad of flowering plants that make up the insectary. In 2019 we made it a goal to exponentially increase the number of plantings beneficial for our bee population. Happily, the result of such an endeavor is even more color and beauty on the farm; not to mention the cheerful buzzing of contented bees! The sheep have been shorn, and Buttercup our donkey is enjoying walks through the vineyard in the sunshine. The chickens busily lay beautifully colored eggs and peck their way down the vineyard rows. 

In the vineyard, the vines are precisely where they ought to be at this moment in the year. The ‘aliveness’ is palpable as we gaze across our rolling hills. All of this beauty, and still we are reminded that something is missing. Our members are a vital part of our ‘terroir’ and to see the farm without a single visitor for months at a time, doesn’t feel quite right. That said, we’ve now had the pleasure of communing with so many of you through our virtual tastings. We are amazed at how organic and lovely it has felt, despite the limitations of distance, to visit and taste together. After so many years of preserving a natural, technology-free environment for our guests, the irony does not escape us that it is technology that is now allowing us to share the peace and calm of our special place on earth. In fact, we can’t imagine why we would ever stop visiting with our members in their homes when they cannot be here in the Napa Valley; and so virtual tastings will remain an ADAMVS member offering from this day forth!

We hope you’ll join us on this Summer Solstice in embracing long summer evenings with loved ones (whether in-person or virtually) and raise a glass to hope. We certainly hope to welcome you to the ADAMVS Estate one day very soon.